Public blockchain evaluation using entropy and TOPSIS

Blockchains have attracted worldwide attention in recent years. With the increasing number of public blockchains, the evaluation of public blockchains becomes meaningful. This paper aims to make a comprehensive evaluation of public blockchains from multiple dimensions. Three first-level indicators and eleven second-level indicators are designed to evaluate the public blockchains. The technique for order preferences by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS) method is used to rank public blockchains. The entropy method is used to calculate the weights of different indicators objectively. Since Bitcoin has an absolute advantage, a let-the-first-out (LFO) strategy is proposed to reduce the criteria of the positive ideal solution and make a more reasonable evaluation. The evaluation indicators and the ranking results of public blockchains can provide related researchers and managers with references and support their decisions. The three first-level indicators are technology, recognition, and activity. Their weights are 16.80%, 59.00%, and 24.20% respectively. The evaluation result shows that Bitcoin, Ethereum, and EOS are ranked in the top three public blockchains. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.